Albuquerque Police Dept. makes settlement in officer shooting case

2014-06-11T11:20:55Z2014-06-11T11:20:55Z

Albuquerque, NM - One New Mexico family is a step closer to seeing some relief after police officers shot and killed one of their family members. After another lawsuit and massive ruling against APD, a judge has ordered the city to pay out six million dollars for a deadly shooting from three years ago.

The victim's family says this decision reassures what they have been saying from the start. This all comes after two officers were serving a warrant for the arrest of Christopher Torres. Torres, who was mentally ill, was in his backyard when officers jumped the fence to arrest him.

The officers claim Torres tried to fight them and during the chaos, grabbing one officer's gun, leading his partner to shot Torres in the back three times, but eyewitness testimony contradicted that story, as did a lack of fingerprints on the gun and Torres' autopsy.

The judge ruled the officers' stories were not credible and that there was no evidence that Torres had grabbed the officer's gun. The victim's family says the decision clears their son's name, but also makes it clear that APD has to change.

Under state law, the city is only required to pay out four hundred grand out of the six million dollars the judge awarded, but, the Torres family is also suing the city in federal court and could win a lot more there. Both officers involved in this case are still on the force.

President Donald Trump visited a Florida community reeling from a deadly school shooting, meeting privately with victims and cheering the heroics of first responders, but extending few public words of consolation...

President Donald Trump visited a Florida community reeling from a deadly school shooting, meeting privately with victims and cheering the heroics of first responders, but extending few public words of consolation to those in deep mourning.